a simple handicap question, i hope

seems like the internet is full of different info on the handicap calculations. and the USGA definitions are way too time consuming and cumbersome to sift through.

my handicap is about 16, but i haven't ever truly done a real calculation. i just took the last 5 rounds i played (that included a few 8s) and plugged them into an online calculator to get 16.4. thing is i remember giving myself a stroke on one of the rounds, plus i think i needed to adjust down some of the 8s, plus another couple of small rule violations that i know i probably shouldn't do for a real handicap.

so, help me do it right. do i play 10 rounds, adjust the gross score to no more than a max of 7 on a hole, plug those into a calculator online and see what happens? some google info said play 12 rounds and take the 10 best...and the USGA website says something about taking 96% of the average differential of rounds. so, i'm not really sure what i need to do exactly. it seems like it should be written much simpler somewhere, aka a 5 step process that is clear.

AHandicap Differentialis computed from four elements:adjusted gross score,Course Rating,Slope Rating,and 113(theSlope Ratingof a course of standarddifficulty). To determine theHandicap Differential, subtract theCourse Ratingfrom theadjusted gross score; multiply the difference by 113; then divide theresulting number by theSlope Rating. Round the final number to the nearest tenth.

I just take my average stroke result counting all my games even the worst (officially countable, not scramble or others stupids).

I get my stroke average. it's usually 2x my paper handicap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyrtleBeachGolf

What?! This makes no sense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacDutch

Utter nonsense. Your stroke average will be something like 84, so you paper handicap is 42?

I'm gonna guess he probably means in relation to par. So, just for fun, I tried that. I took all of my last 20 scores, and for those I am 262 over par. These were my adjusted scores, so maybe add 15 or so if I'm doing ESC backwards, so call it 277 over par. That comes to 13.8. That means by his math, my handicap should be 6.9. Technically it's 9.0 right now so ...

thanks, that's nice you take 10 best rounds/differentials out of 20. i didn't realize they gave you that luxury, or for that matter the luxury of only taking a max of 7. in this case, 7 applies to me because the last 3 rounds my handicap came to 16.5. now i realize i need at least 5 rounds, but i'm assuming the 16.5 will stay the same or even potentially go down over the next two rounds. the crazy thing is my last 3 round my unadjusted scores have been 92, 98, and 106. all the courses have had a slope over 135, so i guess i'm just playing hard courses since 16.5 handicap implies i should be shooting an 88. a 106 is bad for me as i almost always break 100. in fact i pretty much gave up on that round on hole 10 and had like a 57 on the back 9. slope of 140 and rating of 75, i'll give myself a break.

thanks, that's nice you take 10 best rounds/differentials out of 20. i didn't realize they gave you that luxury, or for that matter the luxury of only taking a max of 7. in this case, 7 applies to me because the last 3 rounds my handicap came to 16.5. now i realize i need at least 5 rounds, but i'm assuming the 16.5 will stay the same or even potentially go down over the next two rounds. the crazy thing is my last 3 round my unadjusted scores have been 92, 98, and 106. all the courses have had a slope over 135, so i guess i'm just playing hard courses since 16.5 handicap implies i should be shooting an 88. a 106 is bad for me as i almost always break 100. in fact i pretty much gave up on that round on hole 10 and had like a 57 on the back 9. slope of 140 and rating of 75, i'll give myself a break.

but now you have to figure in course handicap - that 16.5 on a 140 slope is actually a course handicap of 20, meaning your ESC score is 8.

But, without an official handicap - ESC is meaningless, since you are not posting to an official system.

oh, yeah i don't know about ESC at all. the course was ridiculous though i can say. greens were the size of an olympic swimming pool with 4-6 tiers in each ranging in 6-12 feet of elevation. my playing partner had about a 150ft putt down the tiers on one particular hole, barely tapped it and the ball rolled across the green and then off of it 30 yards into the fairway into a lake. i told him before he putt he was probably better off putting it into the sand trap and hitting out. turns out i was right

so do *most* people get an official handicap, or just do it on their own like i'm doing?

oh, yeah i don't know about ESC at all. the course was ridiculous though i can say. greens were the size of an olympic swimming pool with 4-6 tiers in each ranging in 6-12 feet of elevation. my playing partner had about a 150ft putt down the tiers on one particular hole, barely tapped it and the ball rolled across the green and then off of it 30 yards into the fairway into a lake. i told him before he putt he was probably better off putting it into the sand trap and hitting out. turns out i was right

so do *most* people get an official handicap, or just do it on their own like i'm doing?

I would say that most people do not have an official handicap. However, I would guess that a majority of the members of this forum do have an official USGA handicap index.

It's so easy to join a club I don't understand why someone wouldn't. Personally just knowing that a score, good or bad, can affect my index makes me want to play as well as I can. I don't think I'd have the same motivation if I was maintaining an unofficial handicap. Can't wait until the offseason ends. I've been playing better than my handicap and it's getting old not having scores affect it.